5 Horrid Marketing Fads to Leave behind in 2016

“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones“

This quote by John Maynard Keynes aptly sums up the state of marketing today.

Fads come and go, YET some marketers are sticking to the yesteryear ones! It’s high time to acknowledge that some of the marketing trends that brewed large as the year started, have already faded into obscurity.

As 2016 rapidly draws to a close, now is a good time to take a step back and reevaluate your marketing strategy heading into the New Year.

In this new guide, we reiterate some of the marketing trends that have ran their course and should be burned out before 2017.

Fad #1. SEO is dead

The most tiresome marketing spiel we still gotta hear is – “SEO is dead”.

Started from 1997, the faux death fad is still on in 2016. While SEO is definitely NOT dead, the way you are practising it is! If you feel that SEO is not working for you, either you’re still in an SEO myth world or you haven’t hired the right person for this task.

SEO is not something that happens overnight. Rome wasn’t built in a day. So is the case with your SERP ranking. It’s a continuous process which needs to be re-evaluated and monitored at every step.

With the changing marketing tactics and advancing search engine algos, it is your responsibility to follow them and optimize your site until it conquers what you want.

Fad #2. Auto-responding to your social media users

A lot of brands use auto-responders to reply to users asking customer service questions. This is a big turn-off for customers. Auto-responses just show customers that you don’t have the time or care to adequately help them. And what’s worse is that your automated responses can get you in hot water.

A perfect example would be Domino’s automation fail. Apparently the brand is so used to complaints that it can’t take a compliment.

Moral of the story : See customer care on social media as an opportunity — not a burden! If you’ve made a mistake, it’s best to show transparency, be honest and do everything in your power to fix the situation right away. Pizza Hut took ownership of a mistake with an order by responding and apologizing to the customer in a polite and HUMANELY way!

Fad #3. Once you have a logo, you’re stuck with it

When you’re first starting out, you are short on all kinds of resources and time and are eager to launch quickly and get started. Of course, it takes toll on your branding – especially your logo. However thinking that you’re now stuck with the same logo till the end of earth is WRONG!

Your brand identity isn’t set in stone. Many brands – Google, Fedex, Starbucks, eBay – started with one logo but keeps on changing it after a few years, or even a few months!

It was deleted soon after but revealed how little thought actually goes into these star-endorsed social posts. What good will it do for your brand or consumers?

Though much more has been said and written about influencer marketing, yet brands still tend to prioritize the number of fans over anything else.

If you are just looking to create brand/product awareness, then yes, reach may be important. If, however, you are looking for your campaign to result in an action, pick your influencers based on engagement rates.

Fad #5. Focusing on going “viral”

The past few years have seen our digital world getting thirsty for extreme success – the fascination with going viral!

When a newbie brand becomes a household name overnight, as a marketer, we too want to mimic the fad. Or at least we think we do.

A study conducted by Socialbakers on viral brand videos found that they really don’t have a long term impact — in general, after 2 weeks these brands start getting the same amount of attention as they did before.

That’s why virality shouldn’t be your end goal — but shareability should. It also ensures you’ll never just be a one-hit wonder. So start focusing on strategic and attainable goals to make all your content shareable right now!

New Year, New You

We believe that the above blunders have assured you enough to shun your old marketing tactics. Sure, old is gold but it is time to move onto diamonds.

About Neelabha Mahajan

A programmer with writing as passion. She love shoes, nail paints and everything Harry Potter. A recently turned social butterfly, she swears by storytelling in her content. When not searching for the latest marketing stories or shopping for shoes, she likes to paint. Her big dream is to have her own venture and to figure out the mystery of a perfectly winged eye-liner.

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